University of Massachusetts ready to open field hockey season

AMHERST – Her two sisters attended Assumption in Worcester, and her two brothers went to Northeastern in Boston, but Katie Kelly decided to further her education in the western half of the state.

And that’s been a huge benefit to the University of Massachusetts field hockey team.

Kelly, a senior captain from Dedham, earned a spot on the Atlantic 10 All-Conference first team last season after leading the Minutewomen in scoring with 11 goals and six assists for 28 points.

“I didn’t want to follow my brothers and sisters, and I wanted to go to a big school that wasn’t so close to home.” she said.

That type of experience is a plus, but the Minutewomen have even more to be excited about with 11 newcomers arriving following a 12-9 season.

UMass opens its season Friday at 2 p.m. at Garber Field against Boston College in the first of three games of the UMass Invitational. Boston College meets Indiana Saturday at 2 p.m., with the Hoosiers and Minutewomen matching up Sunday at 2 p.m., also at Garber.

Fourth-year coach Justine Sowry, who was an assistant coach for the U.S. national team for three years, said it’s taken a while to get the recruiting routine down right.

“We weren’t always recruiting in the necessary areas,” she said. “Now we have our biggest class. It’s an exciting recruiting group with plenty of athleticism.”

The added depth should be a lift. UMass isn’t as likely to wear down as it did last season. The Minutewomen won five of their first six games, but went 7-8 the rest of the way.

“There were lessons learned with the small squad,” Sowry said. “We had a lot of injuries, and by the end of the year only about 50 percent were in the condition to compete at the level we needed. Now we have 26 players, and already 75 percent are in that condition.”

Sowry said that UMass has a tough out-of-conference schedule, and that the end results were not as important as the preparation for conference play.

The Minutewomen, helped by two-time all-conference goalkeeper Alesha Widdal, are the preseason favorites to take the A-10.

“I was fortunate to get to know Alesha in my days with the USA squad,” Sowry said. “She could have gone anywhere she wanted with a full scholarship. But she believed in the underdog, and came here with me.”

Kelly also helps out with her defensive play.

“Her work ethic is outstanding,” Sowry said. “Every time we lose the ball, she works 100 percent to get it back.”

Both visiting teams this weekend are coached by UMass alums. BC is guided by Ainslee (Press) Lamb, and Indiana is coached by Amy Robertson. Lamb was the A-10 player of the year in 1992. Robertson, who graduated in 1987, led the Minutewomen to four straight NCAA appearances, including a Final Four berth in her senior year.

Indiana has another well-know field hockey standout as an assistant coach – former Wake Forest star Kelly Doton of Greenfield.

Boston College finished 13-7 last season, making its first NCAA appearance since 2005. Indiana was 14-7 last season, going 4-2 in the Big Ten.